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Pre-PA Students

Pre-PA Student Information

Congratulations on your interest in the surgical PA profession! Opportunities for PAs in medicine and surgery continue to explode, and are expected to continue to grow even more over the next 10-15 years.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Money.com, CNN and others all rate the PA profession as one of the fastest growing careers over the next 10 years.

So you want to be a PA

As established and proven providers in the healthcare team, PAs have proven their ability to be charged and challenged with direct patient care and treatment. It is an exciting time to be a PA, PA student and even a PA applicant. The AASPA is here to help you fulfill your dream of becoming a PA, and we are committed to helping you grow stronger as a future colleague!

The strongest way to ensure your success as a PA applicant is to know exactly why you desire to become a PA, how your previous clinical and non-clinical experience has prepared you for a career as a clinician, and the intense extent of training necessary to achieve this responsibility. The ability to answer these questions is dependent on the knowledge of the roles of PAs and developments and news in the field.

What do you do now?

Learn as much as you can about the PA profession and surgical specialties. You can begin here with our section on The Surgical PA.

Talk to PAs and shadow them for a day to get a real understanding of what PAs are doing everyday. To be part of our mentoring program, email AASPA.

Work hard and perform strongly in upper level sciences to be a competitive PA program applicant. Consider taking Biochemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology and Abnormal Psychology. Each program will have its own unique list of required courses needed to apply.

Consider participating in AASPA as a Pre-PA member. You’ll get great information on the PA profession and jobs and it looks great on a PA program application.